Colin Sahlman should skip college

no. hocker being beat in a 1.49 800m yesterday is an example of someone who should probably have stayed in college. if you are good enough you can go pro AFTER college

Using a number like $3 million that was already posted, why can't that be structured as a NIL and still go to college and train with similar talented kids? If, after the first year, he is heads and shoulders above the rest of the NCAA, he goes pro?

But what if he rejects $3M and becomes a 3:38/13:30 guy after 4 years of college. Then he has a crappy NAU degree and no money. Take $3M. Drew Hunter is the example of why you take it now.

No one in their right mind would ever try to compare NAU to Stanford, Notre Dame, or an Ivy League school, but I believe it's wrong to say any Bachelor's Degree is "crappy".

Do people not realise that he can do both? He can sign a contract and get all of the financial benefits of that and still go to college and get a degree. Granted, he wouldn’t be able to run in the NCAA but that way he can get a big contract and set himself up well for a post-athletic career

A great track team includes sprinters and field events. Texas is a great track team

Yes and no. He can get paid for NIL. He can't get paid for performance which is a large part of most contracts.

I disagree. His 3:39 was awesome, amongst his other performances but if you watched this race he was kind of all over the place. He should get some NCAA experience and get better tactically before he would wanna go pro.

Waste his time? What about education? What if he doesn’t improve significantly or get injured and doesn’t deliver good performances? How many pro-semi pro out there struggling following their dream of becoming an elite runner and working minimal wage jobs. If the kid is smart he will also have a professional career. Just take a look back and see how many HS stars have made a decent professional career, not many. Education never goes to waste. Following your dream of becoming an elite runner takes you to poverty more than 99% of the time. Significant stats boys.

im not an athlete I’m an immigrant but I have an MD degree and I can tell you with 100% certainty that in my lifetime I will make way more money than 99% of any American elite athlete. Don’t be stupid kids get an education, but also a well paid education not just any BS degree.

Lol wrong. Most girls don’t like guys that look like teen girls…

The most important parts of college are being part of a team and the social aspect - not going to parties, but like interacting with classmates, professors, etc. Every athlete will be done by their early 30s and will have to move on to something else. Those who did not go to college will be poorly placed to do well with the rest of their life, no matter what their athletic achievements were, given the selfishness and lack of socialization involved with not being on a college team. Great examples are Drew Hunter and Alan Webb. Mary Cain is another example - she has a fake job because her parents are loaded and she's created this martyr image around herself.

You list 3 elite runners who didn't attend college as proof that college males people better? I know any people who didn't go to college and have great families and are doing very well and they didn't get $3M on the front end to start. Anyone claiming that declining $3M to attend college is crazy. And there is nothing stopping people from going to college even though they have a $3M contract to run.

Yes Colin didn't run a very good race and his coach said he wasn't happy about it. But he can get experience running in meets like Sound Running. He doesn't need college experience, just experience running with guys on his level.

In other words, if you’re contending for a global championship gold it works out to skip college. All those guys were 10 seconds faster per mile at the same age… Totally different levels.

I’d bet $1,000 he doesn’t make the podium if he runs the NCAA 1500 this year, next year, or the following year. The NCAA has plenty of guys his level and much better. 3:39 is average for NCAA now. In fact, over 30 guys have ran faster in the NCAA this year. He should go to NCAA and if he wins an NCAA title his freshman year then sure time to go. If he doesn’t even make the final then he’s clearly not ready.

That said, if some exuberant company offers a six figure deal, then take it.

No. It works great for anyone that gets a great contract.

Just watched Jakob’s interview. Paraphrasing, but he said when asked about Sahlman ‘running 13:20 or 13:40 is nothing….though it’s a good first step’. Once you turn pro expectations change, dramatically. Regardless of your age you go from being one of the best HS runners ever to a 3rd tier pro. It isn’t fair, but suddenly you’ve put yourself in a position to be compared to Jakob. Why do that to yourself when instead you can progress and receive accolades as a college runner. College is fun too, being on a large team, etc. Running as a pro (of which I have no experience!) seems like a bit of a spartan and boring existence. I don’t care how tough you are, this jump has got to be super hard mentally. I get that the money may be too much to turn away, but I think patience is a virtue.

unless if you want to go to college for the education or if the college gives you money, i don't see the point in running in college when you're on the level that colin sahlman is at.

Just out of curiosity, where did the $3M contract number come from? I know they have said Hunter's deal was 10 years with Adidas, but I've never seen a real number, and I'm sure there had to be some performance based incentives in there. I guess I just don't understand why any shoe company would pay a HS runner (no matter how good) that kind of money when the ROI on it doesn't make any sense. How would he generate incremental sales to offset that? And for those who suggested he take a 6 figure deal, you do realize after taxes, agent fees, etc. He probably would be better off taking the 5 years of college free as that can be $300-400k tax free and he has the education afterwards.